Extreme poverty and human rights
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- Written by Philip Alston / UN
- Category: News
Th first report of the UN special rapporteur on human rights and extreme poverty:
The report focuses on the importance of social protection floors. This will require to overcome the ambivalence of some international organisations, such as the World Bank, the recognition of social protection as a human rights and better knowledge on the affordability of social protection, even for the poorest countries.
Cash-strapped Human Rights Office at Beaking Point
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- Written by Thalif Deen / IPS
- Category: Analysis
After six weeks in office, the new U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein of Jordan launched a blistering attack on member states for insufficient funding, thereby forcing operations in his office to the breaking point “in a world that seems to be lurching from crisis to ever-more dangerous crisis.”
Read more: Cash-strapped Human Rights Office at Beaking Point
Global Monitoring Report
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- Written by World Bank
- Category: Documents
This year's Global Monitoring Report is worth reading. It is the result of a cooperation between the World Bank, the IMF and the OECD and contains a chapter on inclusive and sustainable growth in OECD countries, as well as one on aid. Its statistics have been adapted to the newest available data (though not the new PPP's) and its graphs are totally new. Remarkably: extreme poverty is now expressed in % of the total world population, whereas in the MDGs refer to developing countries ...
It gives a very clear though somewhat discouraging overview of where we stand with the MDGs.
Debt auditing in Argentina
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- Written by CADTM
- Category: Analysis
The Argentine parliament has just passed legislation for launching a debt audit commission. It will look into the debts contracted by the country since the military junta took over in 1976. The Commission, which is yet to take off, is supposed to submit its report within 180 days. The audit can genuinely serve the interest of the people. Thus, CADTM urges the Argentine government to follow the example of Ecuador which set up a commission in 2007 for an audit of the debt incurred between 1976 and 2006.
On Minimum and Living Wages
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- Written by Iyanatul Islam / SEJ
- Category: Analysis
A few years ago, Richard Anker, a former ILO official, wrote an important paper on the historical evolution of the notion of ‘living wages’ and different ways of measuring them. This paper is one example of a growing realization that mandated minimum wages, however effectively enforced, can diverge significantly from ‘living wages’ that can sustain a worker and his/her family. Not surprisingly, the notion of the ‘living wage’ is embedded in the ILO’s normative framework. The 2008 Declaration refers to a ‘minimum living wage’. The 1970 convention on minimum wages demonstrates flexibility and pragmatism by suggesting that a policy on minimum wages should strike the right balance between the need to meet the living expenses of workers and their families and national goals pertaining to employment and economic development.
Asia Pacific Wealth Report 2014
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- Written by CapGemini
- Category: Documents
The Asian-Pacific's rich population grew by 17,3 %, compared to 13,5 % for the rest of the world.Wealth expanded 18,2 %, compared to 12,3 % for the rest of the world. This strong growth resulted in a record of 4,3 million 'High Net Worth Individuals' and 14,2 trillion US$ of assets ...
Bretton Woods Institutions Birthday Party Turns Sour
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- Written by Eurodad
- Category: Analysis
Africa can be its own Switzerland
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- Written by Busani Bafana
- Category: Analysis
Africa has the capacity to access at least 200 billion dollars for sustainable development investment but it will remain a slave to foreign aid unless it improves the climate for investment and trade and plugs illicit financial flows, development experts say.
“Africa is not poor financially but it needs to get its house in order,” Stephen Karingi, director of regional integration, infrastructure and trade at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), told IPS during the commission’s Ninth African Development Forum, which is being held in Morocco from Oct. 13 to 16.
On the importance of human rights
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- Written by Claudio Schuftan / PHM
- Category: Analysis
FROM THE ABSENCE OF ANY CONSIDERATION BEING GIVEN TO HUMAN RIGHTS, TO A STATE WHERE THEY ARE PAID LIP SERVICE, TO A STATE IN WHICH CONCRETE RECOMMENDATIONS ARE MADE …AND HUMAN RIGHTS ARE APPLIED AND MONITORED!
1. We live in an era in which the ideals of human rights (HR) have moved center stage both ethically and politically*. A great deal of energy is expended in promoting their significance for the construction of a better world. But, for the most part, the concepts circulating do not fundamentally challenge hegemonic liberal and neoliberal market logic or the dominant modes of legality and of state action. We live, after all, in a world in which the rights of private property and profit trump all other notions of rights. (D. Harvey)
What Markets Will
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- Written by Paul Krugman/ New York Times
- Category: Analysis
In the Middle Ages, the call for a crusade to conquer the Holy Land was met with cries of “Deus vult!” — God wills it. But did the crusaders really know what God wanted? Given how the venture turned out, apparently not.
Now, that was a long time ago, and, in the areas I write about, invocations of God’s presumed will are rare. You do, however, see a lot of policy crusades, and these are often justified with implicit cries of “Mercatus vult!” — the market wills it. But do those invoking the will of the market really know what markets want? Again, apparently not.
Majority of governments remain blind to the challenges of global food security
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- Written by La Via Campesina
- Category: Analysis
The delegation of La Via Campesina, gathered in Rome for the 41st session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), recognizes the CFS as the major international forum for debate and decision making on agricultural and food issues. LVC urges governments to take urgent action in favor of peasant and indigenous agriculture, which is the only model capable of feeding the world. On the occasion of World Food Day, we restate our commitment to struggle for Food Sovereignty as a solution to the multiple crises affecting our societies. We reaffirm our commitment to the recognition and enforcement of peasant rights.
Read more: Majority of governments remain blind to the challenges of global food security
